There is something very nice about potato in baked goods. I’ve heard of people who include potato in cinnamon roll dough. What it adds in taste and texture is subtle. I’m at a loss to describe it other than to say, it’s good. I think you’ll like it in this Polish Potato Bread or chleb ziemniaczany (pronunciation).
I love the flavor of this bread and always eat a couple of slices with butter as soon as it’s cool enough to slice. It has a beautiful golden crust and the texture is on the craggy side, better for holding the butter!
Our daughter, the newlywed, made this recipe recently. She made three loaves, and the first one disappeared quickly. She said her husband usually isn’t big on toast in the morning, but he happily toasted a couple of slices of the potato bread in the morning with his eggs.
The texture of this dough has sometimes surprised me. It takes some work to incorporate all the flour. The dough is slightly sticky before rising. After the first rise, it seems wetter if that makes any sense.
Sometimes, I’ve needed to use more than a cup of water to incorporate all of the flour. My only guess is that some potatoes are wetter than others. I’m sure that Paul Hollywood or Magda Gessler could offer us a more precise explanation.
If this recipe has piqued your interest, it’s one of the 54 recipes in my cookbook. The recipes are my favorites, mainly simple dishes, but there are a couple of recipes that are more advanced and might require specialized equipment – smoked Polish sausage and fermenting cabbage to make your own sauerkraut for example.
If you’d like a copy and time is of the essence, I recommend that you order from Amazon. They are the masters of quick delivery. If you’d like an autographed copy and aren’t in a rush, you can order it from my website. I sign books and make a post office run once a week.
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I hope you’ll give this Polish Potato Bread or chleb ziemniaczany a try. I think you’ll love it as much as I do.
Smacznego!
Lois
PS – Have you seen the Polish surname shirts at the Polish Shirt Store? Just click on the photo below (affiliate link).
Polish Potato Bread
- Prep Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 min
- Total Time: 3 hours 10 minutes
- Yield: 1-8 or 9 inch loaf
- Category: bread
- Method: baked
- Cuisine: Polish
Description
A craggy loaf with a golden crust and wonderful flavor.
Ingredients
- 1/3 pound Russet potatoes (give or take an ounce or two)
- 1 packet dry yeast
- 2 2/3 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Oil
- Butter
Instructions
- Wash the potato(es) and bring to a boil in salted water with the skin on, or as they would say in Poland “in its uniform.” Simmer until tender and a fork can be inserted easily to the center. Cool in the water. Reservinge the cooking water, and allow the potato to cool. Peel the potato and rice or mash until smooth.
- To a mixing bowl, add the yeast, mashed or riced potato, flour, salt, and 1 cup of the potato cocoking water. Using a stand mixer with a dough hook or a wooden spoon to combine until all of the flour is incorporated and the mixture forms a slightly sticky dough.
- Put into a large, oiled bowl, turn to grease the top of the dough. Cover and let rise for about an hour, until doubled in size. Preheat oven to 400° F. Grease a loaf pan. Add the dough to the prepared pan. The dough is a little soft for rolling into a loaf, but make sure it’s distributed evenly across the pan and the top is relatively smooth. Cover and let rise until doubled in size, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
- Bake for about 40 minutes, until the crust is brown, and the internal temperature has reached 190° F. Remove from over and brush the top of the loaf with butter. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then move to a cooling rack. Cool completely before slicing.
An accountant by trade and a food blogger since 2009, Lois Britton fell in love with Polish cuisine during the years she lived in Poznań, Poland. As the creator of PolishHousewife.com, she loves connecting readers with traditional Polish recipes. Lois has a graduate certificate in Food Writing and Photography from the University of South Florida. She is the author of The Polish Housewife Cookbook, available on Amazon and on her website.
Rita Gaustad
I love your bread my parents and grandparents came from Poland and I love twist Egg bread I would like to know how to make it Thank you for the beautiful recipe.
polishhousewife
My pleasure!
James McNulty
Delicious with a very nice “chew”. Loved it un-toasted with just some butter. Getting ready to make another loaf. Thanks for the post share.
Vanessa
Can you make them into rolls?
polishhousewife
I haven’t, but I’m sure you could!
Anita Goodhew
When you say a packet of yeast can you please tell me how much this equates to in grams or teaspoons, thank you.
polishhousewife
1 packet of yeast is equal to 2 1/4 teaspoons, or 1/4 ounce, or 7 grams.
Mary Abramczyk
Wonderful! Used dried instant yeast and Yukon potatoes.
MarleneLapera
What is 1/3 pound of potatoes?
polishhousewife
It’s 5.33 ounces or 150 grams. It depends a lot on the size of the potato. I’ve bought large Russet potatoes and one potato may weigh a pound. With smaller potatoes, 1/3 pound might be one small potato. It’s about 2/3 of a cup.
Maxxt
Great recipe – crisp, chewy crust, and nice texture to the bread.
I added bay and mace when cooking potatoes for a little extra flavour, and then some finely chopped kielbasa, parsley, and nutmeg to the dough.
polishhousewife
Sounds great, thank you!
Roxann
What sort of flour do you use? Plain (all purpose) or self raising?
polishhousewife
All-purpose, Roxann. Thanks for asking!
Bri
Can you make this ahead of time? How?
polishhousewife
Hi Bri, this bread keeps for several days, but if you want to prepare it way in advance, you could wrap the baked bread in foil and freeze it until you’re ready to use it. Give it a few hours to thaw at room temp.
Cynthia.
Can I use potato flour ?
Lois Britton
I haven’t tried it with potato flour, but what not give it a try if you have it on hand?
TheJeepDiva Team
This recipe looks delicious! I adore the crispy crust on the outside and softness on the inside. I’m definitely going to try it out this weekend. Thanks for sharing!
Linda Evensen
I am very gluten intolerant and make my bread–in all my baking I use exclusively Einkorn flour, which is low gluten (and non-hybridized like ALL other wheat). Your recipe works so well for that I am making several loaves at a time. It is better than any recipe I have tried so far for sandwiches and that includes my sourdough. I am so happy to have found your recipe. I am wondering how it would work with white sweet potato and other ingredients. I’m going to find out! Ty for sharing. Linda.
Linda Evensen
I mean to say–all other wheat besides Einlorn is hybridized.
Lois Britton
Let us know how it goes!
Bonnie
I’m going to a dinner party this weekend and the hostess is Polish. I would love to make this bread as a gift for her. I have arthritis in my hands and now use a bread machine for my bread making. Can this recipe be done in a bread machine? If yes, is it around a 1 1/2 loaf or 2 lb loaf?
Thank you in advance.
Lois Britton
I’ve never used a bread machine. I’m afraid I can’t help.